


Facing the World

by Hidden_Joy



Series: One Month Later [2]
Category: Eyewitness (US TV)
Genre: Anxiety, Anxious Lukas, Coming Out, Fluff, Light Angst, Lukas doesn't care, M/M, Nerves, Nervousness, Okay maybe he does a little, Rose is awesome, Softness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-26 14:30:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9904478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hidden_Joy/pseuds/Hidden_Joy
Summary: By now the whole school would know and the shock factor would have worn off. Today would be the day that they would go in, newly come out and fresh from the month vacation they'd been given to settle back into normalcy.Today people would judge, and stare, and comment. Lukas wouldn't be the same person to them anymore, the one he'd always pretended to be. He'd be someone else. The guy who got shot because he witnessed a murder and the guy who kissed the weird boy at a partySequel to Déjà Vu.





	

Nerves shot through Lukas as he pulled up to the Caldwell's farm.

He wondered how he hadn't been this nervous on Friday, when he'd kissed Philip at the party. Perhaps that had been a different situation, he guessed.

At the time, he had gathered courage for about a month, getting it from spending most of that time with Philip as their wounds, physical and mental, from the incident that had been Ryan Kane, slowly started to heal.

He was sure that was what he wanted, to be open with Philip. He'd dealt with so much worse, how scary could being open with the boy he loved really be?

And that hadn't exactly gone away. He still wanted to be out at school, wanted to hold Philip's hand and kiss him between classes and sit with him at lunch. But, now, the reality of it seemed to be settling in.

At the party, Philip and Lukas had hung out with Rose and the few of his friends that seemed unfazed by the big reveal. When they got to school, they would not have the same level of protectiveness.

By now the whole school would know and the shock factor would have worn off. Today would be the day that they would go in, newly come out and fresh from the month vacation they'd been given to settle back into normalcy.

Today people would judge, and stare, and comment. Lukas wouldn't be the same person to them anymore, the one he'd always pretended to be. He'd be someone else. The guy who got shot because he witnessed a murder and the guy who kissed the weird boy at a party.

He was sure he didn't regret it, but that didn't stop his stomach from turning or his heart to skip beats every few minutes.

Lukas sighed, shaking his head, both to clear it and to shake out his hair once his helmet was off.

He got off the bike, freshly fixed from the broken starter incident on Friday, and placed his helmet on the seat. He jogged up the steps to the front porch.

The door opened before he could knock, Gabe greeting him with a warm smile.

"Hi, Lukas."

"Hi, Mr. Caldwell," Lukas greeted back, rubbing the back of his neck a bit.

"For the hundredth time, Lukas, call me Gabe," Gabe laughed, stepping back to let the boy in.

"Right, Gabe," Lukas answered with a small smile, nodding as he stepped inside.

He looked toward the table, where Helen was sitting, a smile on her face as she sipped her coffee and looked toward Lukas. "Morning, Lukas."

"Morning, Sher- Helen," he corrected himself quickly, noticing the raise in her eyebrows. He glanced around the area again. "Uh, where's Philip?" he asked.

"He heard you drive up and went up stairs to get his bag," Gabe explained as he sat down beside his wife.

As if on cue, Philip's hurried footsteps sounded from the stairs and Lukas smiled, turning toward the sound.

"Hey," Philip greeted, coming over and pressing a quick kiss to Lukas' lips. Lukas kissed back, smiling and hugging him quickly as well.

"Hey," Lukas answered, pulling back a bit. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Philip nodded. "Bye, guys," he spoke, focusing his attention toward Helen and Gabe.

"Bye, boys," Helen and Gabe both answered, overlapping each other.

Lukas waved a bit in goodbye as Philip took his hand and tugged him out the door. Lukas smiled a bit, following him out.

"First day back," Lukas muttered when they got out to the bike.

"Nervous?" Philip asked.

"Yeah," he admitted because he couldn't lie to Philip. He handed Philip his helmet.

Philip nodded, giving him a small smile. "Well, I'll be right here with you, okay?" he promised. Lukas smiled back, nodding and pecked Philip's lips again before pulling his helmet on and climbing on the bike.

Philip followed his actions and Lukas felt his arms wrap tightly around him, his head resting against his back as he pressed flush against him.

Lukas smiled to himself and then started the bike up again, driving them off the farm and in the direction of Red Hook High School.

When they past through the tunnel, Lukas had a brief moment where he thought of when he dropped Philip off there instead of driving him all the way. This time, he drove past with the same speed he'd been using the whole drive and pulled up to the parking lot.

He parked his bike, pulling off his helmet and feeling Philip's arms leave his middle so he could do the same. Lukas took a bit of a shaky breath, his nerves coming back to him now that they weren't riding the bike.

He got off, taking Philip's helmet from him and putting their helmets on the handle bars of the bike.

Lukas turned back to Philip, who was looking up from putting the kickstand down on the bike for him.

"Ready?" Philip asked with a small, encouraging smile.

"Yeah," he nodded, taking another steadying breath and reaching out to take Philip's hand, lacing their fingers together.

"Alright. I love you, okay?" Philip told him, squeezing his hand.

Lukas gave a bit of a smile. "I love you, too," he answered, then tugged on Philip's hand and led them inside.

He felt eyes on him as they started down the hall of the school, hands interlocked. Lukas raised his chin, trying to give off an aura of confidence, even if he didn't feel it.

"I'm really glad we have first period together," Lukas commented as they stopped at his locker and he took a second to check what period they had first today.

"Yeah, that's good," Philip answered, giving him a smile. Lukas smiled back and dropped Philip's hand only to grab some things from his locker.

He took Philip's hand again when he was done, and shut his locker door, coming face to face with Rose.

"There's the happy couple," the girl grinned brightly, looking between them.

Philip laughed lightly and Lukas smiled a bit, ducking his head. As much as he was nervous about everyone's reactions, he was glad they had Rose on their side. If anyone had a right to hate their relationship, it was her, but she far from hated it.

At first, Rose had been distant with them, which Lukas understood. He apologized profusely to her for everything, and eventually she'd started talking with them. She'd easily become a good friend to them.

"Hey, Rose," Lukas greeted, giving her a smile.

"Hey. How're ya doin'? First day out at school and all," she gave him an understanding smile.

"Okay. Nervous, but, I've got Philip," he answered, looking toward his boyfriend with a smile.

Philip returned the gesture, squeezing his hand.

"That's so cheesy. I'm actually relieved I never got to see the romantic side of you," Rose laughed, a teasing smirk on her lips.

Lukas' pale face darkened with red and he ducked his head. "Shut up," he muttered. She laughed, shaking his head.

"Alright, alright. Good luck today, you two," she told them, patting Lukas' shoulder as she walked by them to go to class.

Lukas smiled and looked toward Philip, who mirrored his expression.

He couldn't help himself and leaned forward, pressing a hand to Philip's cheek and connecting their lips softly.

He felt Philip still in surprise a moment before kissing him back.

He felt Philip laugh against his lips after a few moments. "Babe, people are looking," he breathed between them, glancing away from Lukas to where Lukas knew people were, watching them.

Lukas found a grin coming onto his face. Both because Philip called him babe, and because he remembered when Rose had said near the same thing to him when he'd kissed her in the halls.

He echoed his words from that day. "I don't care," he whispered, leaning forward and connecting their lips quickly again.

And he didn't.


End file.
